Most orphans do not handle death well. At least this one doesn’t. My wife’s uncle George died. He was 82 years old and was in good health until cancer entered his body like a freight train and took him away. Tomorrow is the funeral; today is the family visitation. George was a great man, probably very similar to how my birth father would have been, if he had not died when I was three years old in a one car collision.
This morning as I was reading some comments on his “Legacy” obituary, tears began welling up in my eyes. I held back the tears…or at least the crying. I am afraid of tonight with the family and tomorrow at the funeral.
I grieve for George’s wife and his only son and his wife. I grieve for my father-in-law and his wife. He lost his only sibling and his best friend. I grieve for my wife and my children. I grieve for myself, I have lost a man whom I admired and loved. My body and soul reminds me once again that my father died and I have yet to finish the grieving….and I guess I never will.
David,
Just wanted you to know that you, Phyllis, and your family have been in my thoughts and prayers as you grieve the loss of such a special man.
I’ve been reading Jantzen’s Gift, the book that you shared with me before leaving for South Africa…so many times as I’ve been reading it, I’ve felt like the story of loss was my story. I guess in a way, it’s everyone’s story. It’s what we do with that story that creates our own legacy.
I’m inspired by how Pam has turned her loss into a ministry as I’ve also always been inspired by how you’ve been the father you had only for a very short time to your own children and to other little ones like Riley. How blessed we are by how you’ve been to others what you’ve always longed for.